Sound Check: Rev. Peyton heads up the Big Damn Roots Revolution Tour

Josh “The Rev.” Peyton knows that he and his Big Damn Band — actually a trio from Indiana — aren’t the only old-time, roots-loving band around. So this year and last he’s been happy to gather some kindred spirits for a Big Damn Roots Revolution Tour, a combination concert and hootenanny that celebrates the participants’ shared sensibilities.

“We sort of came up with the idea to do it last year, and it was such a success we decided we would try to make it annual thing — something cool, something different, maybe a little more old school,” says Peyton, 32, who hails from Eagletown, Ind., and plays guitars from the 1930s. “Everybody that’s on the tour plays a set and then everybody collaborates on some stuff together, so it’s the kind of thing that you might never see again.”

“It’s just basically us and people we think are awesome. Sometimes you go and see a band and the opening bands are good, or sometimes they’re not. This way we can guarantee it’s gonna be awesome.”

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And if all goes the way Peyton and his posse hope, they’ll be able to broaden the niche for their kind of music that’s opened up a bit more in recent years thanks to hitmaking acts such as Mumford & Sons and the Lumineers.

“It’s still a small sliver of the music industry, but that stuff is closer to where we come from than, say, Beyonce and Miley Cyrus or something,” Peyton says. “If nothing else, that kind of thing opens the door to maybe turning people onto a lot of different things they normally wouldn’t find on the radio.

“So it’s cool something like that is happening at all. Every now and then what is cool or what’s pop or whatever works out to where truly talented people end up there, too, which is always nice to see.”

Gary Graff writes about music for the Oakland Press and Digital First Media. His work can also be found at www.goanddomichigan.com, www.twitter.com/GraffonMusic and in the Facebook group Gary Graff on Music, while his Classic Rock Insider reports appear at www.wcsx.com.